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Responsible Sourcing? Theory and Evidence from Costa Rica

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  • Alfaro-Urena, Alonso
  • Faber, Benjamin
  • Gaubert, Cécile
  • Manelici, Isabela
  • Vasquez, Jose P.
Abstract
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) increasingly impose “Responsible Sourcing†(RS) standards on their suppliers worldwide, including requirements on worker compensation, benefits and working conditions. Are these policies just “hot air†or do they impact exposed suppliers and their workers? What is the welfare incidence of RS in sourcing countries? To answer these questions, we develop a quantitative general equilibrium (GE) model of RS and combine it with a unique new database. In the theory, we show that the welfare implications of RS are ambiguous, depending on an interplay between what is akin to an export tax (+) and a labor market distortion (−). Empirically, we combine the near-universe of RS rollouts by MNE subsidiaries in Costa Rica since 2009 with firm-to-firm transactions and matched employer- employee microdata. We find that RS rollouts lead to significant reductions in firm sales and employment at exposed suppliers, an increase in their salaries to initially low-wage workers and a reduction in their low-wage employment share. We then use the estimated effects and the microdata to calibrate the model and quantify GE counterfactuals. We find that while MNE RS policies have led to significant gains among the roughly one third of low-wage workers employed at exposed suppliers ex ante, the majority of low-wage workers lose due to adverse indirect effects on their wages and the domestic price index.

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  • Alfaro-Urena, Alonso & Faber, Benjamin & Gaubert, Cécile & Manelici, Isabela & Vasquez, Jose P., 2022. "Responsible Sourcing? Theory and Evidence from Costa Rica," CEPR Discussion Papers 17723, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17723
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jerónimo Carballo & Ignacio Marra de Artiñano & Christian Volpe Martincus, 2021. "Information Frictions, Investment Promotion, and Multinational Production: Firm-Level Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 9043, CESifo.
    3. Datta, Nikhil & Machin, Stephen, 2024. "Government Contracting and Living Wages > Minimum Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 17117, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Grier, Kevin & Mahmood, Towhid & Powell, Benjamin, 2023. "Anti-sweatshop activism and the safety-employment tradeoff: Evidence from Bangladesh's Rana Plaza disaster," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 174-190.
    5. Herkenhoff, Philipp & Krautheim, Sebastian & Semrau, Finn Ole & Steglich, Frauke, 2024. "Corporate Social Responsibility along the global value chain," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 301393, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    6. Laura Boudreau & Julia Cajal-Grossi & Rocco Macchiavello, 2023. "Global Value Chains in Developing Countries: A Relational Perspective from Coffee and Garments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 37(3), pages 59-86, Summer.
    7. Gonzalez, Felipe & Coy, Felipe & Prem, Mounu & von Dessauer, Cristine, 2022. "Uncertainty from dictatorship to democracy: Evidence from business communications," SocArXiv gz934, Center for Open Science.
    8. Mari Tanaka, 2023. "Ethical production and export performance across destinations: evidence from Myanmar," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 413-437, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Multinationals; Working conditions;

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F63 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Economic Development
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy

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